A whole wheat free-form pie filled with an herbed ricotta mixture and topped with farm-fresh produce makes for a healthy and easy brunch or even light lunch.
You will need:
For the crust
Active dry yeast - 2 tsp
Water - ½ cup, warm
Sugar - ¼ tsp
Egg - 1 large, beaten
Oil - ¼ cup (olive or vegetable oil)
Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Salt - ¾ tsp
For the galette filling,
Breadcrumbs - 2 tbsp
Ricotta cheese - 2 cups
Fresh basil leaves - 2 tbsp, chopped
Red chili flakes - ½ tsp
Tomatoes - 1 large, thinly sliced
Golden squash - 1 large, thinly sliced
Freshly cracked black pepper - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Egg - 1 medium, beaten with a teaspoon of water (for egg wash)
How to:
Galette crust: Dissolve the yeast and sugar in warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes for the yeast to prove. The mixture should be frothy and smell yeasty after that time.
Now beat in the egg and oil. Combine well.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt together. Add the wet ingredients to this and mix together using a wooden ladle till it just comes together.
Tip out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently just for a couple of minutes. We do not need to activate the gluten much lest the crust turns out bready.
Shape into a smooth ball, lightly brush with oil, place in a bowl and allow to rise for an hour or so until it doubles in size.
Once risen, punch down dough lightly and divide into two portions.
Roll out each portion thinly and evenly into a 10-inch circle. You can use one portion for an open pie or both portions for a covered pie. If using only one crust, immediately freeze the unused crust to be used later. Roll out the dough on a large piece of parchment paper which will make transferring the galette to the baking sheet easier.
Vegetable-Ricotta Galette: Preheat the oven to 400 deg.F.
Roughly scatter the breadcrumbs over rolled-out crust dough. This will help to not make the crust soggy.
To make the galette filling, combine ricotta cheese, chopped basil leaves, red chili flakes and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Spread evenly on the crust, leaving a 2-inch gap from the edges.
Arrange the sliced vegetables over the cheese filling and sprinkle freshly cracked black pepper and salt on top.
Fold the edges of the crust over roughly and form pleats with your fingers. It need not be perfect, which is the whole point of a galette.
Brush the folded edges of the crust with your prepared egg wash.
Transfer to a large baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes or till crust is golden brown.
Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Sprinkle fresh basil leaves on top, slice and serve. A vegetable soup will go nicely with this rustic galette.
Notes:
1. One major issue with pie fillings in general is that they tend to make the crust soggy. Ricotta cheese and veggies are somewhat better in that respect, but you can try letting out some of the water from the vegetables first. To do that, simply lay the sliced vegetables on a wire rack and sprinkle with salt. Allow to stand 10 minutes to sweat out the water. You can do this while waiting for the dough to rise.
Recipe by At The Corner of Happy And Harried at https://www.happyandharried.com/2015/10/18/tomato-squash-herbed-ricotta-whole-wheat-galette/